The Wider The Better
Wide-format printers and laminators are on a lot of in-plant wish lists. Here's a look at what's out there for you.
Wide-format printers rank among the hottest items on in-plant managers' wish lists, with 17.2 percent planning to buy one this year, according to a recent IPG survey. Add in the 29 percent that already have a wide-format printer, and you can see how popular this equipment is becoming.
This comes as no surprise to Amit Bagchi, director of marketing for Canon USA's Printer Division.
"We have been a player for quite a while," he says. Bagchi recently helped unveil Canon's imagePROGRAF series of wide-format printers during a press conference at the company's headquarters on Long Island, N.Y. The new line boasts a 1.06˝ print head—a feature the company believes will give it a solid foothold in the ink-jet market.
"We're very excited about this product," he says.
Hand-in-glove with wide-format printers, though, are the laminators that protect the posters being printed.
Sol Gnatowski, vice president of sales and marketing for Coda, says the low cost and high quality of ink-jet technology makes wide-format printers a very attractive option for buyers—and a lucrative opportunity for Coda.
"The latest trend in lamination is the interest and use of thermal lamination for wide-format graphics," he says, explaining that with the introduction of digital ink-jet printers, laminator manufacturers had to come up with a low-melt laminate for use with the ink jets.
Printer And RIP Together
The AgfaJet Sherpa 2 printer, from Agfa, in combination with the Agfa Edition of The Onyx PosterShop RIP 5.0, offers a system solution for piezo poster printing. It features a high-speed poster printer, long-life piezo-electric heads and prints 720x720-dpi, photo-like images in all kinds of applications. It has a flexible media-handling system for rolls or cut sheets, a maximum printing width of 934 mm, and a media width to 954 mm.
Six Chip Print Head
The Canon USA imagePROGRAF W2200 color graphics printer and the imagePROGRAF W7200 and 7250 large-format printers owe their print quality and print speeds to Canon's new technology featuring a 1˝+ BubbleJet six-chip print head. The print head has a density of 7,680 nozzles—1,280 for each of six colors. The new imagePROGRAF products utilize a new tubing mechanism to deliver consistently uniform, powerful, high-precision dot placement at very high speeds.
Eight-color Printer
Encad's NovaJet 850 boasts eight-color ink sets outputting 600 dpi. The wide-format ink-jet also offers a "Dynamic Thermal Drying System," which allows uniform ink drying. The NovaJet 850 lets users keep two ink sets installed at once.
Six-color Images At 44˝
The Epson Stylus Pro 10600 can produce six-color images up to 44˝ in width at true 1,440x720 dpi resolution. Images can be printed up to 231 square feet per hour using the printer's fastest settings, and approximately 72 square feet per hour when printing photographic output that the company says surpasses other manufacturers' current and more expensive printing technologies. The Photo Accelerator technology virtually guarantees full print engine performance even when using a slower computer.
Web-based File Submission
The Hewlett-Packard Designjet 5500 Series, following up the Designjet 5000, is reportedly the first large-format device to offer Web-based file submission. Using HP Designjet WebAccess, users submit up to seven file formats, without a driver or the application. It also offers a new 40 GB hard disk drive so files can be permanently stored and maintained in the printer.
Wide-format Proofing
Kodak Polychrome Graphics has unveiled its Matchprint Inkjet Proofers 5542 and 5560. The two models offer format flexibility in 42˝ and 60˝ sizes and provide 1,200x600 dpi with six colors. The new proofers also come with what the company calls an "internal self-color calibration process," and both machines are designed for unattended operation.
On-board Camera
Introduced October 30, MacDermid ColorSpan's 12-color DisplayMaker X-12 wide-format printer is available in 60˝ and 72˝ widths. It features speeds up to 600 square feet per hour, apparent image resolution up to 1,800 dpi, an on-board camera for automated calibration and a high-output forced air dryer system to dry prints for roll-to-roll unattended printing. Its 960 ml ink reservoirs that can be "hot-swapped" while printing feed the near 1˝ wide, extended-life print heads.
'Outdoor' Printer
The Arizona 500 is Océ Display Graphics System's latest wide-format printer. The 75˝ machine is designed for outdoor applications, and offers 600 dpi at 500 square feet per hour. Additionally, the new machine speeds ink drying and minimizes solvent fume exposure with a self-contained design.
Switching Modes For Speed
Xerox Engineering Systems (XES) introduced the X2-TECH, designed with RACER technology, which maximizes throughput by switching between color and black-and-white print speeds. This wide-format digital printer produces up to 444 sq. ft./hour for color prints and 950 sq. ft./hour for black and white. Available in both 36˝ and 54˝ models, the X2-TECH is designed to meet growing demand for color output applications within mixed environments.
